Chapter 22. School of Rock

A few minutes later, the group sat around a blazing fire that Janica tended to with a long stick. Turns out, she liked fire as much as blood, and her eyes blazed with excitement. My companion, the pyromaniac. Janica’s eyes darted to the side, and I followed her gaze. Henry laid on his side, reading. A large bug perched on his hip. A beetle of some sort. Janica began rubbing the tip of her stick against a rock, sharpening it into a tiny spear. Her eyes never left the beetle. She pulled back the newly forged weapon and threw it like a javelin.

Henry squealed, throwing his book to the side and taking cover. “What the hell?” he barked.

Janica picked up her stick, the insect wiggling on the end of it. It was the size of a small apple.

In an instant, she picked the bug off and plucked it into her mouth.

“Eww!” Cassandra said.

Janica licked her lips and groaned contentedly.

“I’m with Cassandra,” I said. “Gross.”

Janica winked at me.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

The girls had their instruments out. They picked at the strings, tuning them and getting warmed up. Because we were worried about putting Henry and Janica to sleep when we performed the song, we gave them the task of back-up vocals. When Henry had suggested that he be the lead singer, Cassandra, Rowan and I had all laughed. One thing I knew about great bands was that they each had a lead singer with a big voice and a bigger stage presence. Rowan had both. The thought of Henry taking on that role was comical.

When I had memorized the sleep song, every part of it etched in my mind. Even the components that Madam Avoah had not sung had become a part of my memory. It was almost as if her voice was one part of a potential symphony. As long as we kept the tune right, we could add any number of extra parts to the composition, and the effect would be the same.

I explained this to Rowan and Cassandra, and we decided, universally, that the lullaby needed to become a tortured rock ballad. Like “Karma Police” by Radiohead or “Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. I started with Cassandra. I asked her if I could use her bass. She looked at me like I was crazy. “Just for a minute,” I said. “I want to show you the bassline.”

“Warren,” Ilrune stopped me and pulled me aside. “I’ve only seen these two warm up, and I can already tell they are competent musicians. Here’s a tip. Don’t ever give a student more than they need to figure it out for themselves.”

I didn’t really understand what he was trying to say, but it was worth a try. Besides, if somebody tried to get on my drum kit, I wouldn’t be happy either.

“Okay, okay, never mind,” I said. “Rowan. The chords are A minor, F sharp minor, E minor, and back to A minor.”

“Cassandra…”

She cut me off with a hand. She shook her head, slightly, then waited for her sister to start.

I stopped talking, shrugged, and glanced at Ilrune, who sat right next to me.

He gave me a nod of affirmation. “Less is more,” he whispered.

As Rowan messed with the chords, I wrote the Lyrics into the party chat.

I noticed Henry pull them up and began mouthing the words. Henry began singing. Way off key.

I winced.

Ilrune whispered in my ear. “Some people need more help. But don’t do it yourself. Rowan’s the singer.”

I looked at Rowan, trying to get her eyes. She focused completely on her guitar, allowing her hands to experiment with finger picking. There were things about a person that made them attractive. Looks, smile, all the usual stuff. But when a person showed you their true excellence, the thing that they did better than anything else, whether it was the way they sketched, rode a skateboard, or saw the world in a way that nobody else did, their beauty magnified tenfold. Rowan was excellent with music. And I was captivated.

Ilrune elbowed me. “You’re staring,” he whispered.

I startled.

Rowan looked up at me, noticed me staring. I looked away, as quick as I could. I felt my cheeks flush.

I looked back at her, embarrassed but smiling. I mouthed the words to her, “will you help them?”. I nodded at Henry, who continued to sing quietly off-key, and Janica, who sang very loudly off-key.

She listened to them for a moment, then winced. She nodded to me.

“Henry,” she said. “Like this.” She began singing the song, allowing her voice to get distressed in all the right parts.

Henry sang along, much quieter than her. Janica struggled more to follow along, but at least she wasn’t belting out the words anymore.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Ilrune put his hand on my shoulder, which sent my heart racing. He didn’t do it to make me uncomfortable, and I wasn’t uncomfortable. But my parents died almost fifteen years ago, and I hadn’t felt the comfort of a trusted adult in a long time. I had my sister, of course. She hugged me when I needed a hug. She helped me calm down many times. She, in many ways, had become like a mom to me and provided that maternal energy. But since Dad died, I didn’t have any men in my life. Nobody to teach me how to shave. Nobody to show me how a man was supposed to react when he got emotional. And certainly nobody to put a hand on my shoulder because he was proud of me. I closed my eyes and just felt his hand for a moment. I felt my eyes filling with tears, and shook off the emotion, pushing it down. This was not the place.

Congratulations, by demonstrating a basic understanding of instruction, your Integrator Passive has granted you a new Job: Instructor.

Job: Instructor. As someone who understands how people learn things, you are able to teach other people the Skills that you have already unlocked.

Passive 1: None

Passive 2: None

Skill 1: Teach Job. If a person demonstrates the basic essence of a Job, you can unlock it for them. Cost: 30 Stamina. Cost to buy: 300 Job Points

Skill 2: Teach Skill. If a person demonstrates the basics of a Skill, you can unlock it for them. Cost 20 Stamina. Cost to buy: 200 Job points

Skill 3: none

On Level Up: 4 Constitution, 2 Dexterity, 4 Intelligence, 4 Wisdom, 0 Strength, 4 Perception

Do you wish to activate this new Job? Yes/No

I activated my new Job, then changed my loadout to include the Spiritual Connection passive. My brain flooded with information. Where I had imitated the teaching moves that Ilrune suggested, in an instant I now understood why his suggestions made so much sense. The stat bonuses of this new Job were wildly high. The Job didn’t have any useful combat skills, but if I could find a way to level-up as an Instructor, I would gain five extra stat points every time.

Ilrune and Janica noticed my Job change before anyone else.

I put a finger over my lips, urging them to keep it quiet.

“Let’s put it all together,” I said.

Rowan began the song again, starting with some careful finger picking. She tickled the strings, setting a somber and melancholy mood. Cassandra came in on the bass next. Her notes were a perfect complement to her sister’s. Even though I didn’t have my Musician Job activated, I kept time on my drum. Nothing fancy. After an eight-count, Rowan began to sing. Henry followed her, singing softly and barely on key.

Rowan has demonstrated the basic essence of the Musician Job. Would you like to grant her access to the Musician Job? Yes / No?

Cassandra has demonstrated the basic essence of the Musician Job. Would you like to grant her access to the Musician Job? Yes / No?

I chose “Yes” to Rowan’s prompt first. My stamina fell from 33 to 3.

Rowan’s eyes looked up at me, surprised.

I motioned for her to keep going. They continued to play, making small mistakes in timing and chords, but figuring it out as they went. The moment my stamina hit 30 again, I activated the prompt for Cassandra.

Cassandra whooped aloud, and stopped playing to throw her hands up in the air.

“Sorry Henry,” I said. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to grant you the Musician Job. And Janica… umm.” She looked at me proudly, somehow expecting praise. “Maybe you’re too advanced a singer to even need the Musician Job?” I shrugged.

“That makes sense,” she said.

I logged off at 10 p.m. As my senses adjusted to the real world, I felt a let down. Everything was so vibrant in the game. So full of potential. I never wanted to log off. The smell of spicy ramen helped though. Sofia made it better than anybody, with mushrooms, peas, cabbage, carrots, and soft-boiled eggs. She could take a two-dollar package of noodles and turn them into a gourmet meal.

“How was it?” she asked. “Tell me everything.”

I recounted the day's events between bitefuls of salty soup. Twice, I had to blow my nose because the ramen was so spicy.

“You’re going to plant a dungeon seed?” she said. “This is bigtime. And you’re right. An entire town is going to grow around it.”

She started pacing about, talking to herself. She got this way sometimes. The wheels turned.

“I need to gather every possible Silver and buy property around the location. Can we even buy property in IO? How much would that cost? I wonder what the regulations are. And if we can’t buy property, how can we profit off of this?” She looked up at me. “Are you sure that you’ll plant it there?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. The poem suggested that we needed to choose a location with room for it to grow. And that it needed an element of historical significance. I would bet anything that that’s where Henry wants to put the dungeon.”

“Who is this guy anyway?” Sofia asked.

“A nerdy kid, I think. He reads a lot. And his. His Apprentice job is already up to level four.”

“That’s not out of the ordinary,” Sofia said. “I got to level four yesterday as an Apprentice by doing quests around town. Then unlocked the Trader Job and got to level two in that Job by shuffling goods around town.”

“You’re already level six?” I gaped. “I’m only level three.”

Sofia winked at me, then moved to the pod. “I need to get moving on this. See you in twelve.”

When Sofia logged off, I was ready and raring to go. I stepped into the pod and connected.

You logged into Integration Online.